Method and apparatus for pressing laminated material



Jan. 9 1,523,440

' F. J. M DONALD METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRESSING LAMINATED MATERIAL Filed March 27, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l fnvenlo r F. J. M DoNALD METHOD AND'APPARATUS FOR PRESSIN G LAMI NATED MATERIAL Filed March 27, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 29 fnvenZor' FrankJ/Ykcfloqald H Patented Jan. 20, 1 25. v

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFHCE.

FR ANK J. MACDONALD, F AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE B. F. GOODRICH COM- PANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

METHOD AND APPARATUS non rzanssme LAMINATED MATERIAL.

Application filed March 27, 1922. Serial No. 547,133.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK J. MACDONALD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Method and Apparatus for Pressing Laminated Material, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the art of making laminated structures, and more particularly for pressing ieces of sheet material, such as arts of I't, her-shoe quarters made out of frlctionedlfabric, upon a larger'sheet, such as a sheet of uncured rubber, to form the outer face of said quarter-making piece. It is desirable to have the fabric piece adhere smoothly to the gum sheet, and the-object of'my inventionis to provide a method and apparatus for rapidly and effectively performing this operation to take the.- place. of the usual hand method I of pressing and smoothing the cloth pieces.

Of the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine constructed according to my invention.

Fig. 2 is a section on a larger scale showing devices for loosening the gum sheet from the liner on the supply-roll and for stripping it back in case of adhesion to the under side of the liner.

Fig; 3 is a cross-section of the tamping devices, taken on the line 33 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44; of Fig- 1 5 is a sectional view of parts shown in, Flg. 3,- on a larger scale, illustrating the action of the tamping bar.

Fig. dis a perspective view of the supplyroll for the" gum sheet and liner, ,with the fabric pieces laid thereon. In the drawings, 10 is the frame of the machine, at opposite ends of which, in suitable bearings, ale mounted shafts .11 and 12 for driving a supply-roll or reel 13 and a take-up roll orreel 14, the shaft 11 being frictionally retardedby a band brake 15, acting on a drum 16, and the shaft 12 being driven by worm gearing 17 and a train of connections, including shaft 18, gearcentral arbor, and the drum'is detachably coupled with its driving or braking shaft, as the case may be. In Fig. 4:, for example, the arbor 14: for the drum 14 is shown as mounted at one end in a bearing 14c on the frame, and at the other end in a socket at the inner end of the shaft 12. A similar arrangement is adopted for supporting the arbor 13 of the roll 13, and the two rolls are rotatably interlocked with the shafts 11 and 12 by means of dogs 11 and 12 on the respective shafts engaging-a spoke oneach roll.

On the upper part of the frame 10, posterior to'the supply roll 13, is loosely journaled a roller 27, over which the sheet of be led as it is stripped in a loop from the underlying cloth liner or apron 29 before the latter unwinds from the supply roll and carries the gum sheet on through the machine. The roller 27 is formed with right-and-left screw-thread ribbing 30, as seen in Fig. 4, which tends to. spread the gum sheet and counteract its tendency to contract by elongation as it passes through the loop. Under the roller/27 is loosely journaled' a pair of guide-rollers 31, whose axes form an obtuse angle for further counteracting the contracting tendency of the sheet through their spreading action thereon.

After passing the rollers 31, the gum sheet 28 is returned onto the roll 13 and lies loosely against the liner underneath, the purpose'of the described stri ping action being to avoid the tendency o the gum to stick to the liner, especially when it has remained in contact therewith for a considerable time or in a warm atmosphere.

The pieces of fabric 32 which are to be pressed against the gum sheet are laid by hand on said sheet on the upper side of the back-stripping roller 33 having a pulleyon .one'end whereby it is driven through belts 3-1, 35 and a counter-shaft 36 from a pulley 37 on the overhead shaft 23. Above and posterior to the roller 33' is loosely journaleda guide-roller 138, over which the V liner and y m strip pass on their way to the tamping evice. The roller 33 is rotated in a direction counter to the travel of the liner, and it tends to strip the gum sheet in the loop away from the under side of the liner, in case the sheet in the loop should tend to follow the back or under side of said liner; as indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 2.

For the purpose of pressing the fabric pieces smoothly upon the sheet of um 28, it has been attempted to employ a roller or pair of rollers, one above and one below the gum sheet and liner, but it was found that the action of the top roller caused a wave or bank in the gum sheet approaching the nip of the rolls, which was very objectionable. Thisdifiiculty I have overcome by the use of an intermittent tamping action which allows the bank effect to disappear or to be absorbed by recoil of the gum sheet between strokes of the tamping device, and I find it especially desirable to employ a tamping tool or instrumentality which has both a. motion normal to the feed of the work and amotion paralleland in the same direction therewith, the resultant being a gyratory path of motion of the tamping tool. 38 is a work-supporting'or anvil roller, over which the work passes, said roller being faced with soft rubber and being idly mounted in bearings at the ends of a pair of horizontal arms 39 which are pivoted on a cross-rod 40-on the frame of the machine, the 'vertical'position of theroller 38 being subject to adjustment by a pair of screws 41 having sprocket-wheels 42 at their lower endsconnected by a chain 43, the manipulation of which turns both screws equally one wag or the other.

.bove and parallel with the roller 38 .is located a tamping bar 44 formed on the lower ends of a plate or beam" 45 which is bolted to a pair of pitmen 46. These pitmen are 14, and are wound up on the latter by the action of the worm gearing 17 and its drivin'g mechanism propelled by the motor26. In first setting up a fresh -roll13, a gum sheet isseparated from the liner and its leading end'is passed over the rollers 27 and-31, while the leading end of the liner is passed under said rollers, so that the gum digresses in a loop, as shown and de'scribed, the twobeing then brought together and carried part way, around the roll 13 before being unwound therefrom to pass over the roller 138. The liner is made somewhat longer ture. I

It will be understood that my invention is not limited to the described details of conping roller 33 serving to strip ofi the gum sheet from the under sideof the liner, in

Case it should cling thereto, as indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 2. The cloth pieces or quarters 32 being placed in rows by hand on the gum sheet, th latter progresses with the liner onto the anvil-roller 38 and is there subjected to a rapid tamping action by the bar 44. Shaft 23 being rotated in the direction of the arrow 51, the crank-p' s 47 will impart to the pitmen 46 a com ined oscillating and vertical reciprocating motion under the idance of the arms 49, which will result in a gyratory or revolving movement of the tamping bar 44, the latter while in contact with the work moving in a direction parallel with the feed thereof. In the particular arrangement shown, this path is somewhat elliptical, as represented approx im-ately by the arrow 52 in Fig. 5, and the effect is to press the fabric pieces 32 smoothly against the gum sheet 28, the intermittent action permitting the sheet to recover between the strokes from any draw thereon while the pressure is being exerted. .1 prefer to have the strokes of the tamping bar come about every quarter of an inch upon the work, but the frequency of their ocratio between the rate of feed of the work and the rate of rotation of the shaft 23.

The gum strip with the adherin cloth quarters is wound up together with t eliner upon the roll .14, and when the roll 13 has been exhausted its drum is transferred to the takesup and a fresh one substituted, the rolled-up drum being removed and the macurrence may be varied, depending upon the i I terial therein being subsequently unwound and subjected to certain steps of manufacstruction but may" be variously modified within the scope of'the claims.

I claim:

comprises imparting a feed movement to laminations. of materialand pressing said laminations together by a rapid succession, of tamping strokes exerted transversely ofand in the same direction as'the feed of the work.

2. In a machine of the character de scribed, the combination fof a tam;iing d'evice, means for imparting thereto a gyra- 1gp 1. The herein-described method which 7 w tory tamping motion, and means for feeding the work past said device.

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination of supply and take-up rolls adapted to feed the work,

a tamping device for pressing the work, and

means for imparting to said device a gymtory tamping movement.

4. In a machine of the character described, the combination of an anvil-roller, a tamping bar coacting therewith, means for imparting to said bar a gyratory tamping movement, and means for feeding the work between said roller and bar.

5. In a machine of the character described, the combination of an anvil device, a tamping bar coacting therewith, a crank and pitman for reciprocating and oscillating said bar, and an arm for pivotally guiding said pitman.

6. In a machine of the 'character described, the combination of an anvil roller, means for feeding the Work thereover, a bar parallel with the axis of said roller for tamping the work against the surface of the roller, and a shaft parallel to said roller and having a series of cranks, pitmen connecting said cranks with the tamping bar, and rocker arms for pivotally guiding said pitmen.

7. In a machine of the character described, the combination of means for pressing clothpieces against a sheet of gum, a

roll for supplying said sheet on a liner to the pressing means, and means for .leadin the gum sheet in a loop away from and back onto the liner on said roll prior to the unwinding of the liner.

8. In a machine of the character described, the combination of means for pressing cloth pieces against a sheet of gum, a

roll for supplying said sheet on a liner to the pressing means, and means for leading the gum sheet in a loop away from and back onto the liner on said roll prior to the unwinding of the liner, said means having provision for spreading the gum sheet in passing through the loop.

9. In a machine of the character described, the combination of means for pressing fabric pieces on a sheet of gum, a roll for supplying said sheet on a liner to the pressing means, and a roller structure for looping the gum away from the liner before said liner and the gum sheet unwind from the roll, said roller structure having rightand-left threads for spreading the gum sheet.

10. In a machine of the character described, the combination of means for pressing fabric pieces on a sheet of gum, a roll for supplying said sheet on a liner to the pressing means, and a pair of rollers for looping the gum sheet from the liner before said liner and sheet unwind from the roll, said rollers diverging at an angle to spread the gum sheet.

11.- In a machine of the character described, the combination of means for pressing fabric pieces against a sheet of gum, a roller for supplying said sheet on a liner to the pressing means, means for looping the gum sheet away from and back onto the liner before the latter unwinds from said roll, a back-stripping roller adjacent to the looping means, and mechanism for reversely rotating said backstripping roller.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 25 day of March, 1922.

FRANK J. MACDONALD. 

